Sunday, March 13, 2016

How We Interpret What We See and Read

We constantly see in comments to
our blog as well as in reading what theorists, members and critic have to say about the
Book of Mormon that so often leads to misunderstandings, misquoting of
scripture, and debating issue that truly are not debatable. Often it boils down
to how someone perceives what they see and read, rather than what is actually
written. Perception is defined as “a way of regarding, understanding, or
interpreting something; a mental impression.”The word is taken
from the Latin perceptio, percipio (“to perceive”), and is the “organization,
identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent
and understand the environment”; however, since we are dealing with the
written word in the scriptural record, we would say, “it is the organization, identification and interpretation of written
information in order to comprehend its meaning and understand its use.” As an example, following are some
typical comments we receive from time to time, usually several times each:1. The final war between the
Nephites and Lamanties began at the River Sidon near the borders of Zarahemla;2. The Land of Promise is a
peninsula.3. Nephi’s ship made its way
through Indonesia.4. Lehi sailed directly across the Pacific to Central America (Mesoamerica).5. The narrow neck of land is
the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.6. The Nephites were mound
builders.One of the problems we have is
that when we read something, even a single word, we interpret it through
our own opinions about the subject, what it means, how it fits into our own
views and beliefs, and whether we agree or disagree with it. Generally, two
things occur: 1) Our predisposed thinking sees what is not there, or not see what is there; or 2) Our
predetermined opinions condition us on how we interpret what we read.As an example, what
did you see in the pictures above? Two birds on tree limbs? A bunch of
scrambled black marks or scribblings? Actually, in the picture on the left,
there is only one bird. The other object is a group of leaves; in the picture
on the right there is a Dalmation dog sniffing the ground in the center of the image. In national studies,
only one out of five will see the correct images at first glance, and after
study, only one out of three will see them correctly on their own.

Now that you know there are hidden images, what do you see
in these three drawings?In the five comments
above, the actual information as found in the scriptural record is:1. The final war
began at the Waters of Sidon—river is not mentioned (Mormon 1:10)2. The Land of
Promise was an island (2 Nephi 10:20).3. Nephi’s ship was “driven
forth before the wind” (1 Nephi 18:8,9). “Driven forth” means pushed forward by
the wind, i.e., the wind would be behind the ship. In Indonesia, the winds blow
off the Pacific through Indonesia islands from east to west—Lehi would have had
to sail from west to east, against the winds.4. Again, the winds blow from
east to west across the central Pacific between Indonesia and Central America, where people say Lehi sailed, meaning he
would have been sailing against the winds, which the scriptural record says he
sailed with the wind (1 Nephi
18:8,9).5. The Isthmus of Tehuantepec is
144 miles across according to the Mexican government statistics, covering 144
miles in a day and a half would not be realistic under any circumstances, let
alone as a gauge for us, the future readers, to understand distances (Alma 22:32).6. There is no mentioned of any
mounds being built by the Nephites; there is no record of mounds ever being
build in the Middle East in any ancient era. The only mention of casting up
dirt is in relationship to around an entire city for defense, i.e., not a mound, but a
sort of wall of dirt (Alma 49:2).In the series of three drawings
above, the one on the left is a face in negative outline, wearing glass, but
also the word Liar written downward at an angle from left to right; the middle picture is an
Indian face, but also an Eskimo with his back to you; and the one on the right
is a young woman’s face with two horses standing on either side in the place of
her hair.

Minds get made up when a person—theorist,
member or critic—becomes convinced of a certain point of view, location, or
place. When one believes the Land of
Promise was in Mesoamerica, or the Great Lakes, or Heartland, Baja, Malay, etc., then when they
read something in the scriptural record, their mind automatically converts the
information into their model or location. If it doesn’t fit, like Mormon’s
north-south land layout, the Mesoamerican theorist has to change the interpretation
of the scriptural record from a north-south orientation to, as John L. Sorenson
did, a different meaning for north and south in the Hebrew thought pattern.
In the case of the Great Lakes, they then have to change the meaning of the
West Sea to some type of inland lake to fit their model.The mind can do this because
when we run across an idea that does not fit our preconceived model, we look
for another answer—and generally our pre-determined opinion allows us to find
another avenue to reach our point of view, no matter how controversial.Take the last set of six
drawings above. Each shows two different ways to view the drawing. The Upper
left shows either four or three logs, depending on which side you look at; the
Middle drawing shows four legs or five legs, depending on whether you start from
top or bottom; the right drawing shows four legs of a box at first glance, but a closer
inspection shows one leg overlaps the front instead of remaining in the back;
the lower left shows a rabbit or a duck, depending on which way you look; the
Middle is three prongs or two; and the right is a vase or two faces. The point
being we can see two or more views to almost anything.However, the scriptures are not
meant to be viewed or read that way. They usually have deeper meanings the more
you study, but those meanings are not conflicting or opposite views, just
provide greater and greater understanding.

Cover up the drawing on the right and study the drawing on the left.
Do you see the old lady or the young women, or do you see both? Uncover the
drawing on the right. Focus on the painted area—the mouth of the old women is
the neck ribbon of the young lady, and the nose of the old women is the chin
and jaw line of the young lady who is looking ¾ away to the left This is a famous
perceptual illusion in which the brain switches between seeing a young girl and
an old woman (or a bulldog, parrot, or baboon). It is credited to an anonymous
German postcard from 1888 that depicts the earliest known form of the image,
followed by a rendition on an advertisement for the Anchor Buggy Company from
1890. For many years, the creator of this figure was thought to be British
cartoonist W. E. Hill, who published it in 1915 in Puck humor
magazine, an American magazine inspired by the British magazine Punch).
It showed up in William James work in psychology sometime after 1905 in which
it was used in several ways to show the working of the mind. The point is, our
minds see what we want them to see and not always what is right in front of us.We need to guard
against this when we start promoting scriptural references and interpretations
that may not be what the original writer or abridger meant for us to understand.
That’s why we need to study and ponder, not jump to immediate conclusions. Generally, we are better served by taking the stance that the scripture is correct as written, and if it does not make sense to us, or fit our pre-determined ideas, then we need to ask ourselves what does that scripture mean and why is it written that way. Only through study can we truly come to a correct, definitive understanding of the correct meanings of the scriptural record.